In This Life I Will Be The Lord Novel - Episode 239

The office of the head of Pellet Corporation, which had just resumed normal operations.
Clerivan’s father, Romassie Dillard, came to visit.
It was an appointment that had been made several days ago, so I had cleared my schedule and was waiting.
The reason Clerivan was inwardly flustered was not Romassie Dillard.
“It’s been a long time, Sir Clerivan.”
It was William Dillard, Romassie’s eldest son, who entered the office with Romassie.
William, two years younger than Clerivan, resembled Romassie Dillard so much that anyone could tell at a glance he was Romassie Dillard’s son.
Unlike Clerivan, who had blond hair and sharp features like his mother, William was a man with light brown hair and gentle eyes.
He maintained a consistently polite and proper demeanor, without a single rough edge from head to toe.
He looked exactly like his youngest sister, Lauriel.
“Yes. It’s been a long time, Sir William Dillard.”
Clerivan hid his flustered expression and greeted him back in a businesslike manner.
Seeing him with William Dillard, who would soon inherit the headship of the Lombardi Merchant Guild, he judged that this was not a private visit.
“What brings you from the Lombardi Merchant Guild?”
He had no hobby of engaging in aimless conversation with someone he was meeting for business.
When Clerivan asked, William subtly glanced at his father, Romassie.
‘It seems he hasn’t received the decision-making authority yet.’
It was well known that William, the eldest son of the Dillard family who managed the Lombardi Merchant Guild, had begun the succession process in earnest to inherit the headship.
And he also knew that the process was not going smoothly.
Immediately, they were falling behind Pellet Corporation in various fields.
However, few people took issue with that.
It was the task of inheriting the Lombardi Merchant Guild, the largest merchant guild in the empire.
It was a long and arduous process, and it was already expected that the guild’s operations would falter during that period.
‘I’ll have to politely decline.’
Clerivan thought that and firmly clasped his hands on his lap.
Perhaps later.
But there was no need for Pellet Corporation to share the burden by collaborating with the faltering Lombardi Merchant Guild.
“Today.”
Romassie Dillard began.
Clerivan’s eyes narrowed slightly as he watched him.
Romassie Dillard seemed very nervous.
Consequently, Clerivan’s clasped hands tightened, making his white knuckles stand out.
What on earth could it be?
“I came to ask a favor of the head of Pellet Corporation.”
Romassie Dillard looked at Clerivan and William alternately for a very brief moment, then said.
“Would you take charge of the Lombardi Merchant Guild?”
A moment of silence passed.
Clerivan, who had been quietly observing Romassie Dillard, asked again.
“Take charge, you say. What do you mean?”
“Exactly. I would like Clerivan Pellet, the head of Pellet Corporation, to succeed me as the head of the Lombardi Merchant Guild.”
He hadn’t misheard.
Clerivan quietly looked at William Dillard.
William, understanding the meaning of his gaze, said in a calm voice.
“I was the one who proposed it first.”
“…Why did you think that?”
Clerivan asked, raising an eyebrow.
It was an absurd proposal.
For Clerivan to succeed Romassie.
“Weren’t you properly performing your duties as acting head of the guild?”
“Properly, you say. If it seemed that way, I’m fortunate.”
William smiled with a tired face.
“For the past few years, I’ve tried tirelessly to take over my father’s position, but it has only been a process of repeatedly confirming that it’s beyond my abilities.”
“I know that the succession process is not easy. But that doesn’t explain why…”
“I know my own abilities well.
I am not fit to lead the Lombardi Merchant Guild.”
William Dillard said, shaking his head.
“With time, I might get used to it and be able to imitate my father. But that would be all. Even if I did my best, I would only be able to maintain the guild’s current state. But you, Sir Clerivan, know well that a guild that doesn’t develop will soon fall behind.”
William Dillard, who said that, did look very gaunt for a man who was only forty.
But Clerivan shook his head slightly.
“That still doesn’t explain it. The guild master has three sons, doesn’t he?”
Not four, but three.
He didn’t count himself.
It was natural.
He was an officially unrecognized illegitimate child.
“I don’t know how this will sound, but…”
William paused and then said.
“Among our four siblings, including Lauriel, none of us inherited my father’s abilities like Sir Clerivan.”
A heavy silence fell again.
Clerivan remained motionless in his initial posture, looking at the Dillard father and son sitting opposite him.
And he opened his mouth heavily.
“I refuse…”
“Please help the Lombardi Merchant Guild, Sir Clerivan.”
William said, bowing his head.
“We, the Dillard family, know how shameless it is to ask such a favor of Sir Clerivan.”
Despite bowing to his half-brother, who was the family’s secret, William Dillard showed no sign of humiliation.
William Dillard was originally such a person.
“Please reconsider.”
Romassie Dillard also pleaded again.
Even the usually cold Clerivan found it difficult to hide his complicated feelings at this moment.
Clerivan was a product of a mistake.
He had briefly wandered when he learned that fact as a child, but he had accepted it long ago.
Romassie Dillard had not publicly acknowledged Clerivan, but he had taken responsibility through financial support.
So, he held no lingering resentment at this age.
No, he thought so.
“Please take charge of the Lombardi Merchant Guild.”
However, it seemed something remained in his middle-aged heart after all.
Seeing the Dillard father and son bowing, a bitter feeling welled up within him.
“I have no desire to be incorporated into the Dillard family now.”
Clerivan said with a stern face.
Then Romassie Dillard replied.
“It’s not a demand to change your surname to Dillard. It’s simply a proposal for Clerivan Pellet, who has excellently built Pellet Corporation, to become the next head of the Lombardi Merchant Guild.”
“But then the Dillard family would lose their rights to the Lombardi Merchant Guild.”
“That’s right.”
Romassie Dillard answered too easily.
As if he had prepared for everything.
“But there is something more important than the Dillard family.”
“…The Lombardi Merchant Guild.”
“That’s right. The Lombardi Merchant Guild must be led by someone worthy of that position. If such a person doesn’t emerge in the next generation of Dillards, then it must be handed over to someone with that ability. That is my duty as a vassal of Lombardi.”
It was an intense loyalty.
But Clerivan could understand that sentiment.
If he were in Romassie Dillard’s position, he would have made the same decision.
“Then I have a condition.”
“…Tell me.”
Romassie Dillard said with a small sigh, as if bracing himself.
“Even if I become the head of Lombardi, the Dillard personnel should not leave the guild.”
“?”
“…What?”
“It means that the people of the Dillard family and the personnel who have served the guild master until now should not quit their jobs because they find me uncomfortable.”
“Th-that’s…”
On the contrary, it was something the Dillard family should be asking for.
“But then, Sir Clerivan might become uncomfortable.”
William asked, bewildered.
Clerivan coldly said to William.
“If all the Dillard people suddenly leave, it will take several years for the guild to adapt to that change. I cannot risk the Lombardi Merchant Guild just to make myself comfortable.”
His loyalty to Lombardi was second to none.
Especially to the future Lombardi that Lady Florentia would lead.
“Thank you, Sir Clerivan!”
William, whose complexion had brightened considerably as if a burden had been lifted, bowed again and exclaimed.
“Don’t thank me yet. I can’t give you a definitive answer until I receive permission.”
“Ah, then…”
To William, who looked bewildered again, Clerivan replied firmly.
“I need to get permission from Lady Florentia, don’t I? She is the master I serve.”
***
“Who is it?”
I asked coldly.
“…Yes?”
“Who are those scoundrels who lured Clerivan away?”
Ah, I’m so angry.
Harsh words just spill out without me realizing it.
How dare they covet our Clerivan?!
“Whatever conditions they offered, I’ll do better. Don’t go.”
It sounds a bit like a pathetic ex-boyfriend, but I’m serious.
I can’t lose Clerivan!
“Wait. Are you thinking of going independent?”
Then it would be hard to stop him.
I can’t be a vicious boss who blocks his path, can I?
“Then I’d tell you to do well in whatever you want to do, but…”
“…” I was racking my brain for a long time, but Clerivan’s reaction was a bit strange.
He looked at my very serious face and started laughing.
“Hahaha!”
“Clerivan?”
“S-sorry, chuckle. Lady Tia’s face was too cute…”
Clerivan, wiping away tears from the corners of his eyes, said to me.
“Romassie Dillard, the head of the guild, has proposed that I take over the headship of the Lombardi Merchant Guild.”
“Guild master? …Ah, right!”
That’s right.
In my previous life, Clerivan also succeeded Romassie Dillard as the head of the Lombardi Merchant Guild.
After my grandfather passed away, he left Lombardi and founded Pellet Corporation.
Clerivan seemed quite conflicted.
And he had every right to be.
He had lived without officially being allowed the Dillard name, but now he was suddenly inheriting the Dillard guild.
“Then we can hand over Pellet Corporation to Violet.”
“That’s what I think too. Violet will do well.”
“From Pellet Corporation to Lombardi Merchant Guild… So Clerivan is still my person, right?”
Clerivan, whose eyes widened slightly in surprise at my words, soon smiled and nodded.
“Yes, that’s right. Lady Florentia’s person.”
Clerivan’s face was a little red as he said that.
“Are you no longer angry?”
“No. I’m fine now. I thought someone was stealing Clerivan away.”
I thought I’d lose ten years of my life.
“That’s a relief.”
Clerivan smiled brightly.
I watched his smiling face for a moment.
In my previous life, Clerivan was not someone who smiled like that.
He always had a dark, sharp edge to him, and his occasional smiles were closer to cynical sneers.
“…I’m truly glad to have met Lady Florentia.”
He was certainly not someone who would say such things.
“Me too.”
Even though we were sitting across from each other like this.
How different both Clerivan and I had become in this life.
It was a fresh realization.
I smiled back at Clerivan and said.
“Please continue to take good care of me, Clerivan Pellet, Head of the Lombardi Merchant Guild.”